Rail fastening assemblies for railroad tracks

ABSTRACT

A rail fastening assembly for fastening rails of a railroad to concrete ties comprises metal shoulders cast directly into a concrete tie during its manufacture on opposite sides of each rail seat and rail clips secured in housings in the shoulders and bearing on the foot of each rail to fasten the rail to the tie. In order to provide for shimming between the rail and the tie to raise the rail and reduce a vertical curve in the track caused by bumps, for example, due to frost-heave, a channel-shaped retainer is slid between the foot of the rail and the tie into a position between the clip retaining shoulders and the shims are located between the foot of the rail and a resilient pad disposed in the bottom of the channel-shaped retainer. Bracing rods are welded to the outside surfaces of the upright walls of the retainer adjacent the top edges and bear on the shoulders to resist outward deflection of the channel side walls. An insulator is interposed between the upright walls of the retainer and the rail foot and has an extension resting on the top of the rail foot underneath the clip.

United States Patent Jennings et al.

[54] RAIL FASTENING ASSEMBLIES FOR RAILROAD TRACKS [72] lnventors: BrianMichael Jennings, Upminster; John Walter Albert Ager, London,

both of England [73] Assignee: Costain Concrete Company Limited,

London, England [22] Filed: Oct. 16, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 81,251

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 17, 1969 Great Britain..5l,227/69 [52] 0.8. CI ..238/349, 238/281 [51] lnt. Cl. ..E0lb 9/48[58] Field of Search ..238/281, 349, 287, 304-309, 238/279, 282,264-270, 306

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,549,090 12/1970 Toyama..238/281 3,587,965 6/1971 Newton ..238/349 2,057,963 10/1936 Maney..238/304 3,565,336 2/1971 Eisses ..238/287 51 Oct. 24, 1972 PrimaryExaminer-Arthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner-Richard A. BertschAttorney-Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Kaul [57] ABSTRACT A rail fasteningassembly for fastening rails of a railroad to concrete ties comprisesmetal shoulders cast directly into a concrete tie during its manufactureon opposite sides of each rail seat and rail clips secured in housingsin the shoulders and bearing on the foot of each rail to fasten the railto the tie. In order to provide for shimming between the rail and thetie to raise the rail and reduce a vertical curve in the track caused bybumps, for example, due to frost-heave, a channelshaped retainer is slidbetween the foot of the rail and the tie into a position between theclip retaining shoulders and the shims are located between the foot ofthe rail and a resilient pad disposed in the bottom of thechannel-shaped retainer. Bracing rods are welded to the outside surfacesof the upright walls of the retainer adjacent the top edges and bear onthe shoulders to resist outward deflection of the channel side walls. Aninsulator is interposed between the upright walls of the retainer andthe rail foot and has an extension resting on the top of the rail footunderneath the clip.

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RAIL FASTENING ASSEMBLIES FOR RAILROAD TRACKS The present inventionrelates to railroad tracks and, more particularly, to rail fasteningassemblies for fastening rails to the ties or sleepers. Specifically,the invention is concerned with providing an arrangement for use withPandrol and similar rail fastening assemblies, such as are used onconcrete ties, for enabling the use of shims between the rail and theties to raise the rail by small increments for reducing a vertical curvein a track caused by bumps, for example, produced by frost-heave.

The Pandrol rail fastening assembly for concrete sleepers consistsessentially of two steel or maleable iron shoulders which are castdirectly into the sleeper during its manufacture on opposite sides ofeach rail seat. At each seat, the rail rests on a resilient pad betweenthe two shoulders which give a precise and robust lateral location. Therail is then secured by Pandrol rail clips driven into the housings inthe shoulders. When insulation is necessary for track circuitingpurposes, an insulator of hard nylon or similar material is interposedbetween the shoulder and the edge of the rail foot. An extension of thisinsulator rests on top of the rail foot underneath the clip.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide means for usewith Pandrol shoulders cast into concrete ties which can provide for arelatively large amount, for example, 1 inches, of shimming under arail, and for gauge retention at all rail levels. It is another objectto provide such means which permits electrical insulation of the rails.

According to the present invention, where a rail is fastened to a tie bya Pandrol or similar clip fastening, in order to provide for shimming toflatten or sweeten a vertical curve produced by a bump in the track, achannel-shaped retainer for shims is inserted between the foot of therail and the tie in a position between the clip-retaining shoulders.This retainer preferably includes bracing means disposed on the outersurfaces of its side walls, at or adjacent the top thereof, and arrangedto bear on the shoulders to resist outward deflection of the channelside walls.

Where no shims are required, a normal Pandrol or similar rail fasteningassembly may be used. Moreover, the normal rail clip is sufficientlyresilient to enable approximately /1 inch of shimming to be used under arail so that where the required shimming does not exceed this amount theinvention need not be employed. However, where the shimming exceeds 1inch the retainer of the invention is placed under the rail with theresilient pad sandwiched between the two. The retainer itself provides acertain amount of shimming and, where further shimming is necessary,this is placed between the resilient pad and the rail. This shimming maybe in the form of hardwood strips. The resilient pad is placed under therail in the normal manner for standard track. However, once the retaineris brought into use the pad must be moved to a position above theretainer so as to avoid movement of the retainer relative to the railfastening.

Gauge insulators may be disposed between the side walls of the channelretainer and the edges of the rail foot. Two types of insulator arerequired, one for standard use, wide enough to take up the spaceoccupied by the retainer and another type for use with the retainer.When the retainer is used, it will be necessary for the Pandrol or otherrail clips to work over a greater range of deflection than theconventional clip which can provide for 0 to V4 inch shimming withoutstraining the clip. It is therefore proposed to provide, for example,three other forms of the clip which will enable ranges of shimming fromfive-sixteenths to eleven-sixteenths inch, to 1 1/16 inches and 1% to 1%inches.

The retainer may be constructed as a combination of a retainer and thesummation of the first, say, five-sixteenths inch of shimming. As therail foot will be above the level of the fastening shoulder when theshimming equals 1% inches the bracing means is provided at the top edgesof the retainer to transmit the horizontal loads from the rail to theshoulder. The retainer may, for example, be formed from five-sixteenthsinch thick steel sheet and have short lengths of ii inch diameter mildsteel rod welded adjacent the top outer edges for bearing on theshoulders of the fastening.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, referencewill now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view, in the longitudinal direction of the rail, of a normalPandrol rail fastening assembly,

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views, taken in the same direction as FIG. 1 but on anenlarged scale, of one half of a Pandrol fastening assemblyincorporating the invention, and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the assemblies of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, a normal Pandrol rail fastening assembly forfastening a rail 1 to a concrete tie 2 comprises two malleable ironshoulders 3 cast into the concrete tie on opposite sides of the railseat 4 and clips 5 secured in housings 6 in the shoulders disposedparallel to the rail. The rail rests on a resilient pad 7 of rubber orother suitable material disposed on the rail seat and gauge insulators 8are interposed between each shoulder 3 and the edge of the rail foot 9.Each in sulator has an extension 10 overlying the upper surface of therail foot and lateral projections 11 engaging opposite ends of theadjacent shoulder to prevent longitudinal displacement of the insulator.The two clips have portions 5a driven into the housings from oppositedirections and portions 5b which press on the upper surface of the railfoot through the insulator extensions 10 and are urged into contact withthe rail foot by further clip portions 5c which bear against theshoulders.

Where a small amount of shimming (not exceeding approximately A inch) isrequired, this may simply be inserted between the rail foot 9 and thepad 7. Where a greater amount of shimming is required, a shim-cumgaugeretainer according to the invention is disposed between the rail and thetie. One embodiment of such a retainer is illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and4 of the accompanying drawings. The same references are used in thesefigures to indicate similar parts to those shown in FIG. 1. Thus,referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, prior to fitting of the Pandrol clips,the channel-shaped retainer 12 is slide under the rail 1 into a positionbetween the two shoulders 3. The retainer comprises a horizontal bottomor base portion 13 and vertical side walls 14 which project upwardly onopposite sides of the rail. Welded along the outer surfaces of the sidewalls 14 adjacent the top edges thereof are metal rods 15 which bearagainst the shoulders 3 to brace the side walls against horizontaldeflection and transmit horizontal loads from the rail to the shoulders.The resilient pad 7 is disposed on the base portion 13 between the railand the retainer so as to avoid movement of the retainer relative to therail fastening. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the retainer may be the onlyshimming required, in which event the rail simply rests in the retaineron the resilient pad 7. On the other hand, further shimming 16, as shownin FIG. 3, may be inserted between the rail and the resilient pad toraise the rail by a required With with the embodiment illustrated, therail can be raised to a maximum height of 1% inches above its normallevel.

After the appropriate amount of shimming has been inserted, gaugeinsulators 17 are disposed between the side walls 14 and the edges ofthe rail foot 9 and the rail clips 18 are driven into the housings 6 tofasten the rail. The gauge insulators 17 are of similar construction tothe insulators shown in FIG. 1 and include a portion 10 extending overthe upper surface of the rail foot and lateral projections 11 which, inthis case, engage opposite ends of the retainer side walls in order toprevent longitudinal displacement of the insulators. However, theinsulators 17 are of smaller width than the insulators 8 of FIG. 1because of the width of the side walls of the retainer. The rail clips18 used with the retainer are of similar shape and construction to theclips 5 of FIG. 1. However, because of the shimming, and the amount ofvariation in this shimming which is permitted by the invention,different sizes of clips are required, as previously mentioned, and thesize of clip 18 is selected in accordance with the amount of shimmingused at a particular rail fastening.

The retainer 12 is prevented from lateral displacement by engaging theshoulders 3 and is prevented from moving longitudinally out ofengagement with the rail foot 9 by the rod braces on either sideabutting the rail clips 18.

Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, it will be understoodthat various modifications can be made without departing from the scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a rail fastening assembly for fastening a rail of a railroad trackto a tie, said assembly comprisingat least two housings located on thetie on opposite sides of the rail respectively and clip fastening meanssecured in each housing and bearing onthe foot of said rail to fasten itto said tie, a channel-shaped retainer located between said rail footand said tie in a position between said housings for receiving shims toraise the rail, said channel-shaped retainer having side wallsprojecting upwardly on opposite sides of the rail, a base portionlocated beneath said rail foot and bracing .means disposed on the outersurfaces of said retainer side walls and bearing on said housings toresist outward deflection of said side walls.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1, in which said channel-shapedretainer is formed from sheet steel and said bracing means comprisessteel rods fixed respectively to the outer surfaces of the side wallsadjacent the to ed est ere f.

3. "l he :om ination claimed in claim 1, including a resilient padlocated between said retainer base portion and said rail foot, and gaugeinsulators disposed between said retainer side walls and the edges ofsaid rail foot, said insulators having extensions resting on the uppersurfaces of said rail foot through fwhich said clip means bear on saidfoot.

4. The combination claimed in claim 1, in which said retainer isconstructed so that said base portion thereof has a thickness equivalentto the minimum amount of shimming for which said retainer is required.

5. In a rail fastening assembly for fastening a rail of a railroad trackto a tie, said assembly comprising at least two housings located on thetie on opposite sides of the rail respectively and clip fastening meanssecured in each housing and bearing on the foot of said rail to fastenit to said tie, the combination of a channelshaped retainer locatedbetween said rail foot and said tie in a position between said housingsfor receiving shims to raise the rail, said channel-shaped retainerhaving substantially vertical side walls projecting upwardly on oppositesides of the rail, a substantially horizontal base portion locatedbeneath said rail foot and rods secured respectively to the outsidesurfaces of said side walls adjacent the top edges thereof and hearingon said housings to resist outward deflection of said side walls, saidretainer base portion being of such a thickness as to be equal to theminimum amount of shimming required for use of said retainer, aresilient pad located on the upper surface of said base portion, atleast one shim located on the upper surface of said resilient padbetween the pad and said rail foot, and gauge insulators disposedrespectively between said side walls and the edges of said rail foot,said insulators having extensions resting on the upper surfaces of saidrail foot beneath said clip fastening means and lateral projections atopposite ends thereof engaging opposite ends of said side walls toprevent longitudinal displacement of said insulators.

1. In a rail fastening assembly for fastening a rail of a railroad trackto a tie, said assembly comprising at least two housings located on thetie on opposite sides of the rail respectively and clip fastening meanssecured in each housing and bearing on the foot of said rail to fastenit to said tie, a channel-shaped retainer located between said rail footand said tie in a position between said housings for receiving shims toraise the rail, said channel-shaped retainer having side wallsprojecting upwardly on opposite sides of the rail, a base portionlocated beneath said rail foot and bracing means disposed on the outersurfaces of said retainer side walls and bearing on said housings toresist outward deflection of said side walls.
 2. The combination claimedin claim 1, in which said channel-shaped retainer is formed from sheetsteel and said bracing means comprises steel rods fixed respectively tothe outer surfaces of the side walls adjacent the top Edges thereof. 3.The combination claimed in claim 1, including a resilient pad locatedbetween said retainer base portion and said rail foot, and gaugeinsulators disposed between said retainer side walls and the edges ofsaid rail foot, said insulators having extensions resting on the uppersurfaces of said rail foot through which said clip means bear on saidfoot.
 4. The combination claimed in claim 1, in which said retainer isconstructed so that said base portion thereof has a thickness equivalentto the minimum amount of shimming for which said retainer is required.5. In a rail fastening assembly for fastening a rail of a railroad trackto a tie, said assembly comprising at least two housings located on thetie on opposite sides of the rail respectively and clip fastening meanssecured in each housing and bearing on the foot of said rail to fastenit to said tie, the combination of a channel-shaped retainer locatedbetween said rail foot and said tie in a position between said housingsfor receiving shims to raise the rail, said channel-shaped retainerhaving substantially vertical side walls projecting upwardly on oppositesides of the rail, a substantially horizontal base portion locatedbeneath said rail foot and rods secured respectively to the outsidesurfaces of said side walls adjacent the top edges thereof and bearingon said housings to resist outward deflection of said side walls, saidretainer base portion being of such a thickness as to be equal to theminimum amount of shimming required for use of said retainer, aresilient pad located on the upper surface of said base portion, atleast one shim located on the upper surface of said resilient padbetween the pad and said rail foot, and gauge insulators disposedrespectively between said side walls and the edges of said rail foot,said insulators having extensions resting on the upper surfaces of saidrail foot beneath said clip fastening means and lateral projections atopposite ends thereof engaging opposite ends of said side walls toprevent longitudinal displacement of said insulators.